464 – 9 Year Anniversary Retrospective Redux 4 – Pluto with Aidan Clarke
We’re celebrating 9 years of Manga Machinations by revisiting Pluto! We’re joined by manga letterer Aidan Clarke to talk about all things Naoki Urasawa! We discuss Monster, Yawara!, Master Keaton, 20th Century Boys, and especially Billy Bat!!!
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Continue readingBilly Bat
A manga about a comic creator who’s character called Billy Bat turns out to be an entity that has been influencing history since the dawn of man.
Here it is. The manga that became the progenitor of our Manga Machinations podcast.
This title is so full of insane plot twists and mystery that it became the focus of our first discussions recorded in audio format. We spent hours theorizing the truth behind the white & black bat, breaking down the connection between Hitler and Lee Harvey Oswald, and trying to predict where/when the story was headed next.
Unfortunately in typical Naoki Urasawa fashion, the series ended with a whimper which also didn’t wrap up most of the confusing plot threads. But overall, the mountain of conspiracy theories we built on the way ended up being the best thing that could of ever started our journey as a manga podcast.
Here’s to you, Billy Bat. I pray for the day you’ll be officially available in English.
~dakazu
102 – Billy Bat part 10
This week we start off by thanking a listener, we examine characteristics of ONE’s protagonists from One Punch Man & Mob Psycho 100, and Seamus breaks down the levity of lighter chapters in Golden Kamuy! Then we go over the final chapters of Billy Bat before breaking down the series, solving all the mysteries, and giving our overall thoughts on the series as a whole!!!(covers chapters 163-165)
Continue reading101 – Side by Side 4 – Ace of Diamond vs. H2
On this episode we reveal our plans for next week, Seamus drops The Highschool Life of a Fudanshi(Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu) but picks up Houkago Edge, dakazu talks about Nana to Kaoru and Jisatsutou(Suicide Island) ending, we examine the orange anime and live action adaptations of Yowamushi Pedal and Bleach, and Darfox gets into the popularity of variety shows in Japan! In our Side by Side segment we compare 2 very different baseball manga, Ace of Diamond and H2, but Seamus may be sick of all these sports manga!
Continue reading099 – One Shot 2 – Misu Misou
On this episode Seamus explains the relevance of certain characters related to Norse Mythology in Vinland Saga, dakazu loves the Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji comedy spin-off about evil organization middle management in Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues(Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa), and we catch up on another chapter of Billy Bat! Then for our One Shot retrospective, we look at Rensuke Oshikiri’s tragic tale of murderous middle schoolers in Misu Misou!!!
Continue reading096 – Saikyo Selections 3 – Case Closed
We kick off this week’s episode with an emergency Billy Bat update and discuss the megaton reveal from the newest chapters! Then it’s time for another Saikyo Selections! We check out various cases(covers chapters 40-44, 62-67, 92-98) from the most popular shonen mystery series Case Closed(Detective Conan) while trying to break down the series and the genre!!!
Continue reading076 – Saikyo Selections 1 – Naruto
Welcome to our new segment Saikyo Selections where we’ll be looking at a single story-arc from a long running popular manga and analyze it’s major themes! The first series we’ll be covering is Naruto and the search for the 5th Hokage arc!(covers chapters 150-171) We also talk about March comes in like a lion(3-gatsu no Lion), Hyakushou Kizoku, and Billy Bat!!!
Continue reading075 – Triple Dip 13 – The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Hyouge Mono, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
On this episode Seamus is reading about androgynous Richard III in Requiem of the Rose King(Baraou no Souretsu), dakazu likes the simple shoujo manga Mustard Chocolate, and we find out who’s involved in the Black Bat religion in Billy Bat! Then it’s the return of our Triple Dip section! We check out the beginning of Assassination Classroom author’s prior series Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, the magical fantasy world of The Ancient Magnus’ Bride, and examine Warring States Japan through glazed pottery in Hyouge Mono!!!
Continue reading074 – Manga in Motion 6 – Night on the Galactic Railroad
Itadakimasu! This week Seamus sees the connections of Ainu to Princess Mononoke from new Golden Kamuy chapters while dakazu loves more childhood tales of Hi Score Girl author Rensuke Oshikiri in Pico-Pico Shounen. Darfox is concerned about LGBT representation in Jisatsutou(Suicide Island) but dakazu appreciates how My Brother’s Husband handles the issues and we look at the newest chapters of Billy Bat. Finally, we discuss the 1985 adaptation of Kenji Miyazawa’s classic fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad!!!
Continue reading071 – Goodnight Punpun part 4
We kick off this episode with more Billy Bat! Then dakazu learns the true powers of licensed Disney songs in Sexy Joyuu-chan – Girigiri Mosaic while Seamus learns about the final twist in orange. After that we explore more Goodnight Punpun and discuss Sachi and Punpun’s somewhat healthy relationship.(covers chapters 79-99)
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